Community shows support for fallen firefighter (Updated 6:22 p.m.)

BOILING SPRINGS -- An EMT wiped away tears as she drove down Main Street. Children with somber faces stood on the sidewalks holding flags. A long procession of rescue squad cars, police cars and fire trucks followed one another to the grave site.

They all came for Jared Lapo.

The 23-year-old Mooresboro native was a beloved firefighter at the Boiling Springs Fire Department. He was killed Friday morning in a car crash between Shelby and Boiling Springs.

“We’re just wanting to show our support. I didn’t know him personally, but it’s sad,” said Pam Bumgarner, unable to keep back the tears in her eyes. “My husband knew him.”

Bumgarner came with three grandchildren and a friend to hold flags and show support for Lapo’s family as the procession went past.

From across the nation to a street in Boiling Springs, people mourned Monday for those lost who put their lives on the line. In Arizona, 19 firefighters were killed on Sunday while fighting a wildfire. The 19 firefighters killed marked the deadliest day for firefighters since 9/11.

In Boiling Springs, a large American flag unfurled over the road, suspended by a ladder from a fire truck. Shelby policemen stood nearby.

Lapo's fellow firefighters stood in a line dressed in their firefighting gear in front of the fire department.

They called him Lapo

Many others came to show their support and to pay their respects.

“We are supporting because he was a regular customer of ours. He had a lot of friends here,” said an employee of the Kangaroo store, one business whose employees all stood on the sidewalk holding flags.

Lapo’s obituary spoke of his service to the community, a service the community has not forgotten.

Lapo “gave his all to helping others.” He loved being a firefighter and was the 2010 Firefighter of the Year for the Boiling Springs Fire Department. “A gifted guitarist” and “a great personality,” Lapo was no stranger to the community.

“My son Wesley was very close to him. That’s all he ever talked about was Lapo. That’s what they called him, Lapo,” said James Russ. “Wesley always talked good of him.”

Others lost their lives

Lapo is the second area firefighter killed in recent months. Kenny Edwards Jr., an Ellenboro firefither, died in February after a tree fell on him in a wooded area of Burke County.

Edwards, “a fireman’s fireman,” was remembered as a mentor to younger firefighters, and a man who was always on call, who loved his work.

On Sunday, 19 firefighters were killed in the line of duty, fighting a wildfire in central Arizona. On Monday, loved ones placed flowers on the fence at Prescott Fire Station No. 7 in Prescott, Ariz. in tribute to their service.

Page 2 of 2 - Reach Molly Phipps at 704-669-3339, at mphipps@shelbystar.com or on Twitter @MollyAPhipps.

Updated 5:05 p.m.

A video of the funeral procession is now posted here.

3:55 p.m.

Reporter Molly Phipps and photographer Brittany Randolph are in Boiling Springs as the community has turned out to support the family of Jared Lapo, 23, who was a Boiling Springs firefighter. Lapo was killed last week in a wreck. Check back later this afternoon at shelbystar.com for more coverage.